PH to export rice in May, says DA exec

BANAUE, Ifugao—Rice producers and traders are to export rice in May, the first time the commodity would be exported in large volumes in 40 years, a high official of the Department of Agriculture announced here on Saturday.

Dubai and Indonesia will receive 15 metric tons of black rice from the Don Bosco Foundation for Sustainable Development Inc. in North Cotabato, 20 tons of japonica from the SL Agritech in Nueva Ecija and 30 tons of long grain aromatic white rice, also from a cooperative in Cotabato, by May 6, said Agriculture Assistant Secretary Dante de Lima.

De Lima was in Ifugao to inspect the repair of sections of the rice terraces that were eroded by heavy rains last year.

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De lima said shallots would also be exported in May, with a farmers’ cooperative in Nueva Ecija shipping out 15 containers, each holding 15 metric tons, of native shallots to Indonesia.

He said this would be a test to see how well local farmers can manage bulk orders.

The government, he said, does not allow commercial exports until rice farmers can harvest enough to have the country rated as fully self-sufficient in rice. The country expects to reach this goal in 2014, De Lima said.